xr6tForMe

I bet you are grinning again!

On the other hand, I doubt that engine braking does much extra wear and tear to engines and gearboxes, fuel consumption drops to zero so it uses less fuel (at least on FGs) and you are not wearing out brakes which you will pay to replace.

And was the box properly filled using the correct "temperature" process.

I think that, strictly speaking, the ZF oil is the "right" stuff. However it is very expensive. When I got my car, other people were saying that the gulf western oil works just fine (and the label specifically says it works in the ZF), so I gave it a go, and it has been fine for me. I suspect that no one on the forum has the skills to properly measure the difference between performance (particularly when considering all the different criteria of "oil performance") of one oil over the other.. I guess it depends on the definition of "best" that you want to use.

Based on posts here and the labels on the Gulf Western syntrans I bought a 20l drum of syntrans and used it to flush through my G6ET zf until what came out looked close to what was going in.. I think that was at about 78000km. The car is just under 90000km now and the gearbox has been fine. There was also enough to replace a fair amount of oil in our BA 4 speed box as well. That is now at 220000km and was probably done 20000km ago.

As already mentioned; how does the car get treated - and you probably will have no idea. Some people will regularly break a stock standard car, while others will have a modified car for a long time and not break anything. This comes down to a scale of "mechanically sympathetic" through to "abusive". I would rather buy a modified car that has an owner who does not drive in a way that breaks stuff than a standard car that is abused.

Can you pull them out and look at how the end looks and maybe where they go to see what is or isn't lining up?

I don't know, but just a couple of ideas that might help.... Have they been swapped from side to side and each side is different? Is there a key so it will only go in when everything is lined up?

Grego77 You came on here promising a proper intercooler test and data for people to make real decisions on and delivered very little. If you want to discuss power vs parts vs performance I am sure that could work fine (again some data would be required). What power would the engine you listed all the prices for parts make? What would you compare that to? My opinion is that Ford USA has been in the prices of killing Ford in Australia for years, so it would not matter how good or bad anything here is, it was all destined for the dump years ago. I am actually sad about Ford (and Holden) closing manufacture in Australia. It is just another predictable unnecessary step in Australia's skills and abilities going down the drain.

Fitting another standard one still seems to be taking a chance. I would not want to be making a warranty claim even if it's possible. It means you would have suffered a breakdown, need to make a claim, could be knocked back ("It was fitted incorrectly", "You used the wrong coolant" or some other excuse) and are paying for a cooler that you want to replace in 12 months anyway.

Pretty sure this was what I fitted to my G6ET. http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/AUTOMATIC-TRANSMISSION-OIL-COOLER-FORD-BF-FG-6-SPEED-AUTO-ZF-TRANS-EX-LARGE-/121530278836?pt=AU_Car_Parts_Accessories&hash=item1c4bc4e3b4 Using sonething like these to mount it http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/UNIVERSAL-RADIATOR-ELECTRIC-FAN-MOUNTING-KIT-STRAP-TIES-COOLING-/161235861769?pt=AU_Car_Parts_Accessories&hash=item258a680109 I mounted mine in front of the radiator, so it will get airflow through it, but I suspect people with larger intercoolers would not have space to fit it there.

I have not been in many ZF equipped turbo cars. -My standard G6ET. -A short ride in a forum members modified G6ET (without gearbox tune) -A short ride in a mates F6E which was modified including gearbox tune. My impressions are: The ZF is a fantastic auto gearbox. And The tuning of the gearbox in the F6E made it even better again. Shifts were very firm, fast and smooth in the F6E under fast acceleration and seemed as normal (ie very good) driving normally.

When you put it like that, why would you consider anything else?Edit: having said that, it WOULD be cool to see a tweaked 4 cylinder turbo.

1 BA wagon 1 FG G6ET Both awesome value for money cars.

Oil on exhaust manifold?

I have not had that problem yet. Did a quick search and saw that you can get drill guides to help drill the broken bolt. Sound they would be a big help (assuming you can get access to use them)

If you are in Sydney, I have this set if it will help you. http://radum.com.au/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=10669. It's a huge G clamp with lots of fittings to press different ways. I used it to replace the ball joints in our BA and it worked quite well. I think it should help.

I knew you were, but still interesting reading. ...

MattyP, Have you been reading this http://homemadeliquidnitrogen.com/ ?? It is quite interesting.

Aiboart. While I understand what you are saying, I don't think it is terribly relevant here. You could just as easily say "More power has downsides (eg fuel consumption and parts breakages) so you should not mod your car for more power". That would also be correct in some people's opinions, but probably not the general population of this forum. How often has a turbo car owner (more specifically, someone on this forum) said "I wish my car was less responsive" and how often do they say "I wish my car was more responsive"?

Sounds like a good outcome Hugh. Congratulations. Well done!

I think the PWR replacement is probably the best. I think it will operate closer to "factory" specs. I personally bought a much cheaper "oil to air" type kit for the ZF and mounted it in front of the radiator on my car using another kit which had things like "zip tie sticks". I will see if I can find links to what I used and post them later.

I will tackle the design of a WTA intercooler system as a puzzle solving exercise, but it will probably be a long time before I am in a position to actually implement it.

MattyP, Was the WTA cooler on your Celica a standard factory item? If so: Had you modified the parameters it was operating under? (more boost/heat to deal with) And: Are factory coolers ever good enough for enthusiasts? In any case, I think engine bay heat is just an issue to consider in designing the system, rather than an insurmountable problem. Some possible things to do to help with this would be -placement of the cooler to the side so it is not directly above the hot engine -insulate the cooler from the engine bay (eg exhaust wrap tape) -insulate the exhaust keep heat in and kepp the engine bay cooler (again exhaust wrap tape) -ensure enough water flow to remove heat added from the engine bay -ensure enough heat removed from the water by the radiator section of the system

I see people discussing which (expensive) aftermarket turbo to fit and they are often concerned about response/lag. People specifically WANT response. I would not think that cost and complexity is too much worse when people are already spending large amounts of time/money on modifying their cars. They are already rearranging batteries, air filters, replacing all piping, replacing intercoolers, cutting parts of the car to fit massive intercoolers etc, etc. One extra radiator and pump does not seem like too much more.